Actually I think paying them the same amount is crazy! But I’m glad for the opportunity to clarify in case that was unclear in the original comment.

Paying employees differently for similar work is pervasive and can be justified in several ways.

Calling it “cartoonishly evil” as a commenter did above is ridiculous.

If you don’t like this case, why not mandate a single uniform salary within or across firms?

Really looking forward to the inevitable comment from someone who will try to make a case for that wild idea.